


These Charming Men

by fanperson



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: 30 Day OTP Challenge, Jealous Sherlock, Johnlock - Freeform, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-16
Updated: 2016-05-17
Packaged: 2018-06-08 19:56:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6871222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fanperson/pseuds/fanperson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A twist on the 30-day OTP challenge.  Sherlock has a surprisingly strong reaction when John starts dating a man.  He undertakes some research to strengthen their "pair bond" and eliminate the interloper.  Of course, confusion ensues before the inevitable happy ending.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Holding Hands

John and Sherlock had been in the back of the pub for several hours. John sat hunched over his beer, scanning the crowd for a white male in his mid-twenties, a description that covered about 60% of the patrons. Sherlock, still wearing his coat despite the warmth, was leaning against the wall and glaring at nothing in particular. 

A group of women at a nearby table started glancing over at John. Well, it seemed unlikely the suspect would appear at this point so John raised his glass to them and smiled. One of the women came over to his table and introduced herself as Susan.

“All alone tonight?”

John could almost feel Sherlock’s eyes burning into the back of his head. Well, the git had been sulking for the past three hours and hadn’t said a word to him.

“Yep. Pretty much.” He didn’t glance behind him but he knew that Sherlock, with his bat-hearing or lip reading or psychic mind-melding, would know what he had said. 

“Some of us were going to play darts. Want to join? You can be on my team.” She smiled and gestured to a crowded table at the other side of the bar.

“Sure. Why not?” John allowed her to circle his wrist with her fingers and pull him across the room. Once there, he was introduced to “everyone” and directed to sit in a tight space between Susan and a man named Teddy. The three of them began steadily downing pints and Teddy began buying shots which John thought it would be rude to turn down. In another hour John had hit the sweet spot of alcohol consumption where he was warmed by a general love for all mankind. He looked back to find Sherlock, who apparently had decided to stop looming and had perched himself on a chair closer to John. John shifted to beckon him over and felt the world tilt.

Sherlock watched from a distance as John, obviously inebriated, started to tip over on his stool and the young man beside him caught him around the shoulders and waist. The man righted John in the chair and leaned in to whisper in his ear. John smiled and nodded in agreement as the two got up from their seats and began to pull their jackets on. John followed the man to the door and outside into the street. Sherlock moved quickly through the crowd to follow. It was well past midnight and the pavement was damp from an earlier rain.

Sherlock was unsure what was going on. The man was clearly not the suspect and still John had followed him out into the night. Sherlock watched as the silhouettes of the two men moved, back-lit by the street lights. The younger man was a good five inches taller than John and often stopped to lean down to whisper in his ear. They walked slowly, John stumbling somewhat and the man catching him by clutching at his arm. In what Sherlock knew was a calculated move, the man slid his hand down John’s arm and tangled their fingers together. He waited for John to push the man away but John just kept walking, swinging their hands slightly.

Before he could think about it, Sherlock sped up until he rounded on the couple.

“John. I’ve been looking for you.” 

John blinked up at him like he had entirely forgotten him until this moment.

“Oh. Sherlock. Sorry. I forgot all about it.”

John scrunched his face and began scrubbing his free hand through his hair. Sherlock noted that he had made no move to free his hand from the other man’s grasp. Sherlock and Teddy looked at each other.

“Oh sorry. This is my flatmate, Teddy, and my…Sherlock. No, that’s not right. Teddy, this is Sherlock. Sherlock lives with me.” 

John seemed satisfied with this explanation, smiling first at Sherlock and then at Teddy.

“Nice to meet you, Sherlock? Never heard that name before.” Teddy finally withdrew his hand from John’s and held it out to Sherlock.

Sherlock glared at Teddy and made no move to touch his hand. 

“John, I need you at home.” He pinned John with a stare and folded his hands behind his back.

“Oh right. Yes. Well, Teddy and I were going to watch a movie at his.”

“I bet you were.” Sherlock glared at Teddy. “It will have to be another time.”

“He could come to ours.” John looked at the two of them. “We have popcorn.”

“As much as I am sure Teddy would enjoy a sleep over, I don’t think that is quite what he had in mind.” 

Sherlock began to place his arm on John’s elbow.

Teddy was smiling. “Another time, John. I have your number.”

Teddy pulled John over and placed his hand at the back of his neck, turning his head up so he could lean down and kiss him lightly on the lips. “I’ll be in touch.” He stroked John’s neck and then turned and walked back towards the bar.


	2. Cuddlng

Sherlock did not speak to John as they walked back to the flat, striding ahead of him and pretending to examine some bit of brick or graffiti every few minutes as he listened for the shuffling footsteps to catch up a bit. He should have been prepared for this. He had known that John must date men as well as women after their first dinner together. 

But, since that time John had only gone out with women. Insipid, silly, easily-intimidated ones. 

Now there was “Teddy.” Diminutive for Theodore. Greek origin meaning gift of god. The man was in his mid-thirties, ex-smoker, mild scoliosis. A doctor of some sort. Most likely a dentist. Lived in the suburbs and came into the city to meet up with his uni friends every so often. Confident. He had pursued John in the bar, the casual brushes of arms, intense eye contact, stroking his own neck as he leaned in to talk to John. Then there was the way that Teddy had made unwavering eye contact with Sherlock as he kissed John. Intimated to Sherlock that he would soon see John in a romantic setting. 

Teddy had obviously dated many men, rarely seriously. John was just a bit of fun. Maybe he enjoyed that John was smaller than him. Wanted to capitalize on that. He could see John and Teddy playfully wrestling with each other in John’s sparsely furnished bedroom. Laughing, sticking cold hands up each other’s jumpers and tickling until Teddy would pin John’s arms above his head. John would lay back panting on the bed, smiling up at him. At Teddy. Stupid Teddy. 

They had reached 221B and Sherlock unlocked the door and then walked back about half a block to wrap his fingers around John’s wrist. He wanted to weave their fingers together and walk slowly with him but that wasn’t the way things were, now was it? His grip on John’s arm was gentle as he pulled him up the stairs to his bedroom and eased him inside the door. John seemed unperturbed, groping around to get his mobile out of his pocket and starting to unbutton his jeans. Sherlock turned away quickly and made his way down the stairs. 

A twinge of something like guilt made him stop in the kitchen to fill a glass of water and bring it up to John’s room. The man was already asleep, turned on his side and curled into a tight ball. Sherlock wanted to fit himself behind him, mold himself to John’s spine and slow his own breathing until their heart rates synchronized. He wanted to press his hands to John’s bare chest carefully, like making hand prints in the sand that would be washed away in the rising tide. He wanted to know that he would be allowed to return to touch John that way again and again.

Ridiculous and impossible.

Sherlock sighed and flicked off John’s bedside lamp before returning downstairs.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own anything but a milk crate full of audio cassettes and a futon. I certainly don't own Sherlock or John or any of these other characters, I just like to borrow them. I hope BBC and ACD don't mind. The title is obviously borrowed from The Smiths.
> 
> This is an AU where John dates men from the beginning of his cohabitation with Sherlock. Also, I think they moved the sofa.
> 
> Comments and concrit welcome. I am just getting back into this whole writing thing and appreciate the feedback.


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